Hurricane coverage is good, but

[Carl]

do we need 24 hour, non-stop coverage. I have not been able to see any of the new series which were supposed to come on the last few days because of the constant hurricane coverage. I think an update every hour would have been enough until just before the hurricane is supposed to make landfall. What do you think?

 

[lisajl]

I agree, and we have family living in Houston, too.

 

[CajunDixie]

I sort of disagree. I think they need to keep covering the hurricane since it is not going exactly where they said it would go. I think it's more important to keep people informed and to urge them to go to safer areas than it is to watch a fiction show. Sorry, but most TV shows aren't real or if they are "real" they are so bogus as far was what is shown and what is cut and spliced to make for better TV. I'd rather total strangers be alive and well.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Sadly--without the 24 hour coverage...people won't get the severity of the threat.

A hurricane can change at any time and increase in strength or wobble and affect the coast in a different way.

For severe weather--stations are required to implement the emergency broadcast yadda yadda....they break in to let you know what is going on with the weather. If they did that instead of 24 hour straight coverage...you still wouldn't get to watch anything--they'd have to break in as soon as they went off. Information is ever changing. As the hurricane approaches--conditions deteriorate rather quickly.

There are evacuations that obviously had to take place....there are people who need shelter.

The news is a very very important resource during a hurricane. If it is bothersome, there's always a dvd or video or a fluff channel. The major networks in a threatened area...are doing the right thing. As annoying as that might be. If stations didn't broadcast the information--there would be fallout in the aftermath. (Can you imagine if New Orleans stations only broke in hourly?)

A category 3 is quite a severe event...and is still classified as a major hurricane. This is not the same as update on the progress of a thunderstorm.

 

[Micca]

Carl I have learned during the past few weeks that being a news junkie has some drawbacks. During times like these the continuous coverage is like watching paint dry. They don't really have any "news", just different versions of the same story over and over. I think it is important to so many,
and I don't begrudge them that. I think it's a good weekend for a DVD.

 

[RitaZ.]

Whenever we have a hurricane or tropical storm watch or warning, the coverage is on all day long. The sad thing is that I can't stay away from the tv, I just have to keep watching. During Katrina, the storm was supposed to come our way to N. Broward county. Well, at the last minute, Katrina did a little dance and veered south toward Miami.

I remember watching live coverage of MIA and FT. Lauderdale Int. airports. The live shot of MIA was really dark and stormy, yet the live shots of Ft. Lauderdale were not. I thought maybe it was due to poor video quality, but it wasn't, the hurricane was heading south. I called my brother and he said the weather was rapidly deteriorating in South Miami. It really caught them off guard.

The rest of the nation doesn't need to watch 24 hours a day, but it's extremely important for those residents that may be affected by the hurricane to stay tuned.

 

[ASFCurly]

you must be getting that because of where you live, we get it non stop on the cable news stations, and TWC, but other than that it is just when the news is on for the most part.

 

[C.Ann]

If it makes people aware, keeps them on their toes, and motivates them to do what they need to do, I say keep it on 24/7..

 

[Dan Murphy]

I mostly watch the news channels, Carl, mostly Fox. I did just zip through the other channels, seems like normal programming. Maybe being in Houston is why you are seeing it on all stations.

Hope you guys do well in the hours ahead.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

I agree it is very important for people in certain areas to know what is going on, and it is necessary.

I do think however that generally the new media grab onto the big stories and cover them 24/7 when it really isn't essential to have a minute by minute report. For example, remember earlier this year when they started covering the Pope's grave illness and eventual death. For days and days it got to where "did he die yet?" and then there was a report that he had passed, when in fact, it had not happened yet. Breaking in every now and then seems sufficient in a lot of the cases. IMHO

 

[mrsltg]

I agree with the OP - disaster fatigue sets in. The problem is that 24 hours news networks need to fill the air 24 hours a day - the world is not that interesting!

Erin

 

[klj27]

I was in WDW when Dennis was going through. Our one year old had a 24 hour fever so I stayed in the hotel with him while everyone else went to the parks. There was nothing on tv for the whole day we were in the room. I was constantly seeing the same images over and over again. I understand the severity of the issue, but at least show something new!